$9 million in street improvements coming to Lafourche

Saturday

Feb 9, 2013 at 1:14 AM

Engineers are drawing up designs of the $9 million worth of street improvements planned for north Lafourche, officials said.

Xerxes WilsonStaff Writer

Engineers are drawing up designs of the $9 million worth of street improvements planned for north Lafourche, officials said.That work is in addition to more than $5 million in pump station improvements already on the drawing board.Money for the work comes from $25 million in bonds sold last year. The bonds, essentially a government-issued IOU, will be repaid over two decades using sales tax money earmarked for District A, the part of Lafourche north of the Valentine community.“We are in the infancy stage of all of this to see what is required on these streets,” Public Works Director Kerry Babin said. Engineering firms T. Baker Smith and Duplantis Design Group will map out the exact repairs needed on Market Road, Mill Road North, Fourth Street, Fifth Street, Bowie Road, Edgewood Drive, Julia Street, Holly Street, Gwynn Street, Edley Street, Park Drive, Wisteria Drive, various streets in Highland Lakes subdivision, Winder Road, Lasseigne Road, Pertuit Lane, Plaisance Drive, Bayou Blue Bypass Road, Crest Street, Eagle Island Road, Ash Street, Central Lafourche Drive, Cypress Street, Danos Street, Easy Street, Hospital Drive, North Oak Street, Queen Street, St. Ann Street, St. Anthony Street, St. Louis Street, Sugarland Street, Twin Oaks, Williams Street, and Highland Drive.“These were projects that were identified as critical by the councilmen representing those areas,” Babin said.Lafourche Parish President Charlotte Randolph said the parish administration asked the councilmen to detail which streets need work.The repairs could include filling in potholes, resurfacing or reworking the foundation. Babin said it is too early to know exactly when the roadwork will start, but residents should expect to see numerous projects going on simultaneously. “We are going to be very, very aggressive in getting these projects pushed through to completion,” Babin said, adding the work should be done this year.Randolph said additional projects could be added after the first wave is completed.“These were the top priority,” Randolph said of the streets singled out for work.The bond money will also be used to complete drainage work identified in the parish’s master drainage plan, which was completed by T. Baker Smith last year. That work includes about $4 million in upgrades to the Fantastic Acres and Coastal pumps in the Lockport area. Babin said the pumps, which serve residential areas near Lockport, are “simply old,” leading to high repair bills and decreasing reliability. The engineers will establish exactly what repairs are needed, but Babin said it is likely there will be at least a partial replacement of the stations’ components. The Leighton and Morvant pump stations near north Thibodaux will also be upgraded using bond money, officials said. Babin said those stations need more pumping capacity. “They don’t have age problems that others have, we just need to increase capacity” to keep up with growth, Babin said.The pump station improvements are also likely to be done this year, according to Babin.